


heaven knows i'm miserable now

by sodium_amytal



Category: Mortal Kombat (Video Games)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Kytinn, Post-MKX, Sex Pollen (sort of), Spiders
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:33:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25002439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sodium_amytal/pseuds/sodium_amytal
Summary: The absence of control had been the true horror, the thing she couldn't shake. She had felt that fizzy sensation in her brain, like someone had poured a soda pop into her skull, and that abominable surrender of control, stretching thinner and thinner until it pulled apart, as if her will had been made of taffy. Raiden had been strong enough to fight her off, but what if he wasn't?
Relationships: Cassandra "Cassie" Cage & Raiden, Cassie Cage/Raiden
Comments: 12
Kudos: 29





	heaven knows i'm miserable now

The mission was understaffed from the very beginning, although Raiden could hardly blame Special Forces for that. The enormous insectoid creature _had_ , after all, dropped into Earthrealm quite suddenly through a portal, before a burst of angry light and a shotgun-blast of sound exploded behind the buildings on East Avenue. A shockwave rippled outward, and a volley of screams erupted. Then there was vast movement in the sky, and a creature rose above the buildings that still stood, blotting out the moon.

Cassie Cage was first on the scene, at least after Raiden teleported a good distance away from the carnage. She gave him a tired smile, as if relieved to see a familiar face on the battlefield. "What the hell is that thing?" she asked.

"I cannot say for certain," Raiden said. "It appears to be Kytinn in nature, but perhaps their realm contains unidentified species." Around them, pedestrians dashed and clamoured away from the explosion site. Tires squealed as cars veered in different directions, each street leading away from the place of impact. "Where is the rest of your team?"

"They're en route," Cassie said, loading her pistols and running toward the disturbance. "Looks like it's just you and me for a bit. Think you can handle it?"

"I will do my best," Raiden joked.

As Raiden and Cassie closed in, people sprinted past them, shouting "Look out! Look out!" The distant warble of police and fire truck sirens rang through the air. Beneath the shadow of the monster, bystanders ran in all directions. There were countless round cocoon-like objects lying around the insectoid; they were translucent, and Raiden could see dark shapes squirming inside of them. _Larvae_ , he thought and zapped each one with a burst of lightning. If this thing's plan was to hatch eggs and multiply, leaving the eggs untouched would be unwise. As they each exploded with a sodden squelch, yellow resin burst from the pods.

Cassie heard a scream and whipped her head to the left in time to see a man in a yellow-stained business suit lunge at a woman stumbling out of her high-heels. Business Suit seized the woman by her red blouse and pinned her to the pavement. Red Blouse shrieked as Business Suit's hands tore at the front of her shirt. All the while, people ran by, and the monster roared an awful screeching sound.

Cassie planted a kick to the side of the man's head. He made an _oof_ sound as he toppled sideways against the concrete. The woman scrambled away, her legs pedaling backwards until she found her footing. Business Suit pushed himself up, lunging at Cassie with claw-like hands. His face was unnaturally red, as if he had some sort of rash. Yellow goo dripped down his face and the front of his shirt. Another well-placed kick sent him through the window of a Dunkin' Donuts.

More screams. "Help me!" a woman cried, her voice filled with terror. Cassie shoved her way through the fleeing crowd in search of the voice. In an alleyway between a sushi restaurant and a towering office building, another man was tearing at the clothes of a terrified woman. His face, too, had the color of a tomato in red patches across his cheeks, and his clothes were covered in yellow gunk. _What the fuck is going on?_ Cassie thought as she leapt onto the man's shoulders and used her weight and momentum to flip him. He hit the pavement with a crack, almost like a gunshot, and she felt a pang of regret. These weren't super-powered villains or hand-to-hand combat experts she was fighting here; they were just fragile, everyday humans.

She heard a familiar crackle of electricity and rushed back to check on Raiden. He was electrocuting the larvae pods, and yellow slime erupted from each one. As though aware Raiden was murdering its young, the bug monster screeched and drew back, its pincers clacking in horrid succession. From the creature's maw burst a torrent of yellow resin. Raiden managed to teleport out of the way, and the gunk sprayed onto the street.

"Raiden! We need to keep our distance from that thing!" Cassie called to him. Instantly he appeared at her side. "Whatever that yellow snot is, I think it's infecting people."

"Infecting?" Raiden took her arm—taking care to control his strength—and drew her away from the vicinity of the monster. From behind them came another roar, then a great smash as buildings collapsed. Smoke and dust filled the air, making it hard to breathe.

Cassie recalled the madness she'd witnessed just moments before; the men who attacked those women had looked almost _rabid_ , their lips curled in a snarl like a ferocious dog. And the rash-like blotches on their faces, the sheer lunacy in their eyes… "Whoever gets slimed with that gunk ends up going feral. I don't know if it'll affect you, but let's play it safe and assume it can. If this thing slimes you, we're all fucked."

Raiden supposed that was true; his strength and capabilities were at their apex in Earthrealm. Mortals would not be able to fight him off. The thought gave him chills.

"How do we take this thing out if we can't blow it up?" Cassie wondered.

"This creature came through a portal. I presume it could leave the same way."

Cassie raised a scolding eyebrow at him. "So, make it someone else's problem, then?"

After the final defeat of Shinnok, Raiden's decisions regarding the protection of Earthrealm had grown somewhat callous. In absorbing the Jinsei's negative energy, he had taken on a more pragmatic approach, no longer concerning himself with half-measures. Half-measures, he knew, had gotten his comrades killed and turned into undead puppets of the Netherrealm.

"You asked for a solution."

It was clear by the disgruntled twist of her mouth that Cassie didn't appreciate Raiden's answer, but she seemed to understand time was of the essence. In the black sky, a Special Forces helicopter approached and descended. The _whup-whup-whup_ of its blades cut through the clamour of noise—Cassie likened it to New Year's Eve in hell. Jacqui, Takeda, and Kung Jin jumped from the hovering craft and reported to Cassie. She briefed them on the situation and gave them their orders. "Jacqui and Takeda, get the civilians somewhere safe. Kung Jin, shoot the eggs so they don't hatch. Raiden will open a portal and shove it through. I'll cover you."

They were far enough away from the insanity, and now they were heading back into it. The egg sacs exploded from Kung Jin's arrows; no doubt he had found a safe position from which to take aim. She couldn't find him, but that was the point. Yellow placenta ooze spilled across the concrete, and Cassie took care to avoid it the best she could. Maybe it wasn't acidic, but better safe than sorry.

As she and Raiden closed in, the Thing reared up, lifting its spiny front legs, reminding Cassie of a spooked horse. It buried her in its shadow, and she saw its awful red eyes. A scream rang out from behind her, and she pivoted toward it, running on instinct more than anything else. A man emerged from the mouth of an alleyway, bracing against a nearby building. His jeans were soaked in blood around his left ankle, and his shirt was covered in dark shoe prints. A tribal tattoo peeked out from underneath his left sleeve.

"I got trampled," Tattoo told her, his words a little wheezy.

Cassie moved to help him—he wouldn't be able to escape on his own, that was certain—just as Raiden's voice called to her over the Thing's horrible screeching: "Cassandra! Take cover!"

She turned—she had to, in order to see what was coming, what direction she must go—and a stream of crude snot sprayed from the Thing's maw like webbing from Spider-Man's wrists. Cassie felt a terrible wet warmth splash over her, covering her chest, her torso, even her face. She spit, tasting something vile in her mouth, coughing on the foul yellow stench, and fell to her knees. Her hands scrambled to wipe away the maggoty pus, but she presumed it was already too late. And whatever gunk she wiped off was now on her fingers, likely seeping into her pores. She began to feel her skin burning, as if her blood was on fire. Frantic, she grabbed for her radio.

"Briggs! Takahashi! I've got a civilian near ground zero. I need back-up!"

A massive portal of light and energy swirled behing the Thing, and Raiden had the creature engulfed in tiny fingers of lightning. He was slowly guiding it inside the portal, taking care to paralyze the creature with his powers. Any slip in his concentration and that spider would pop like an enormous pimple, then the whole block would be covered in its gooey poison.

Jacqui and Takeda arrived to take away the injured Tribal Tattoo, but Jacqui was more concerned about Cassie. She knelt down, and Cassie snapped, "Don't touch it! Or me!" Jacqui was careful to avoid the poison and avoid touching Cassie. "I'm burning up. You need to hurry. Once this starts—" She screamed in agony. Her brain felt like a pressure cooker. She crawled into the alleyway where the injured man had been hiding. Maybe if she laid down, she could find a way to deal with the pain. She was keenly aware of her pulse doing a hummingbird flutter behind her ribs. "Go! That's an order!"

Jacqui hesitated for a split-second, perhaps realizing Raiden would be available to tend to Cassie. Then Jacqui was gone, assisting Takeda with carrying Tattoo Guy to safety. Cassie staggered through the alleyway, looking for a water source. She felt like she needed a bath, or at least a rinse-off. Maybe the pain would lessen if she washed off the yellow crud. She tried to remember the last fire hydrant she'd seen, but all her thoughts were turning red, a sole imperative beginning to grasp her mind.

"Shit, it's already starting," she gasped.

Raiden heaved the Thing through the portal, steady and sure. On the other side was the Netherrealm, and Raiden saw no problem with delivering this monstrosity there. He had the creature turned around, its vomiting mouth facing the portal, though he suspected the Thing could spin some horrible, mind-altering silk through its rear end if it felt threatened. Judging by its screeching and clattering pincers, it wasn't having a good day.

Using a great deal of strength, Raiden sent the creature through the swirling vortex. He considered zapping it and killing the Thing once it reached the other side, but decided against it. _Give the revenants something to do_ , he thought wryly. As he closed the portal, he heard quick footsteps behind him, the sounds of running—

Cassie charged him, tearing at his robes as if she meant to tear _him_ apart. Raiden caught her wrists, then her legs were on him, taking him down. He felt the unbearable heat from her body; with all her warnings to him about avoiding the ichor, it had been Cassie herself who ended up poisoned. Raiden took a measure of comfort in that; however strong she was, she was still mortal. He fended off her grabs and tackles, all while she apologized and assured him she wasn't the one doing this. He believed her.

Raiden managed to roll them over so Cassie lay on the ground. Her hands still clawed at his clothing, this time at his belt, which he allowed. He would need it soon enough. "I'm going to bring you to my Sky Temple," he told her. "Think of it as a detoxification center." When his belt was loosened, he pried it from her grasp and used it to hog-tie her. "I take no pleasure in restraining you, but it is necessary." Her body fought him every step of the way, but her mouth told a different tale.

"So hot…" She groaned. "Water…"

Raiden stood up and brought her with him, grabbing her by the collar of her bodysuit. "I'll give you plenty of water. Now come along with me." He gripped her tightly, then in a blink they were at the entrance of Raiden's temple. He brought her inside, her body still bucking and flailing against its restraints. He hauled her into the bathroom's spa tub and spun the cold tap all the way. Cassie was smaller tied up like this, so it took less effort to get her face underneath the gushing faucet. When the cold hit her, she spit and sputtered and tried to wrench out of his grip.

"Fuck!" she cried, and Raiden could see the two halves of her fighting for dominance. The human half craved the cold, needed the water to rinse away the ichor still caked to her skin. But the other half—the dark, crazed half—demanded to see its mission through.

"The cold will lower your body's temperature," Raiden explained, almost wishing Sub-Zero were here to freeze Cassie and make this easier. "Otherwise, the fever will burn you out." Water ran over her face, her hair, down the front of her clothes. He spun the stopper into the drain, and the tub began to fill with water. Cassie tried to escape, but Raiden held her steady. "Stay there," he said, half-joking; restrained like she was, Cassie wouldn't be going anywhere. "I will bring you a remedy."

Raiden had the tea brewing when Cassie shouted from the bathroom: "Let me out! I'm g—going to drown!" He appeared next to the tub. Indeed, the water level was dangerously close to engulfing her, at least with her tied up like that. He switched off the faucet and listened to her teeth chatter. "P—please, I'm s—so cold."

"Not until you drink this." Raiden disappeared and came back with a mug of tea. "It is brewed with a special leaf that will offset the effects of the poison very quickly." He touched her face with his free hand. Her temperature was lower, and this suggested she might drink the tea without too much resistance. The less of a fever she had, the more likely her human, rational self was behind the wheel.

He put the cup to her lips, and she drank greedily, uncaring if the tea was too hot, though Raiden had done his best to keep it on the warm side rather than scalding. Cassie swallowed in four big gulps, gasping for breath when she finished. Raiden set the empty cup aside. Cassie's cheeks, once red with adrenaline and fire, were fading back to their natural color. Her eyeliner had smeared, giving her raccoon eyes. She looked like a scared little girl, and he could see the antidote, along with the cold soak, was taking effect.

"Let's get you untied," he said, reaching into the water to find her restraint. He worked the knot open, and Cassie wiggled in the tub like a fish, giving her newly-freed limbs room to stretch. She tried to stand up, but her legs were wobbly, and her boots slipped. Raiden caught her before she fell. His arms around her like a hug, he lifted her from the water and got her to sit on the edge of the tub. She shivered, and he offered her a bath towel and a robe from the linen cabinet. "Come out when you are ready."

She nodded, not really hearing him. He recognized the glazed, blank look in her eyes and did not relish what would come next.

* * *

Cassie sat there while the tub drained for a few solid minutes. She felt vacant but knew the terror was coming. She needed to keep moving, so she stood up and untied her boots. Her bodysuit hit the tile floor with a wet smack. There was no place to hang it to dry, at least no place where it wouldn't drip on the floor, so she wrung it out the best she could and draped it over the lip of the tub. She got the towel and robe around her, but that was it. That was as far as she could make it before the rock burst inside her chest.

Cassie had never been much of a crier; crying was one of the things her mother had disciplined out of her. "A soldier doesn't cry," Sonya would scold her when the slightest ripple of tears filled Cassie's eyes. "A soldier gets the job done." Well, Cassie hadn't gotten the job done, and she felt she was owed a good cry for her own sanity. She wept on the bathroom floor, smothering her sobs with the towel (she might be shedding tears, but she wouldn't let anyone hear her while she did).

That _thing_ had been in her head, controlling her like a puppet, and all she could do was watch behind her own eyes while her body fought to fulfill the poison's purpose: _spread the infection, fill the world with chaos and slithering, crawling creatures_. The absence of control had been the true horror, the thing she couldn't shake. She had felt that fizzy sensation in her brain, like someone had poured a soda pop into her skull, and that abominable surrender of control, stretching thinner and thinner until it pulled apart, as if her will had been made of taffy. Raiden had been strong enough to fight her off, but what if he wasn't? What if she had attacked Jacqui or Takeda or someone unequipped to fend off a skilled fighter like herself?

She recalled the man in the business suit tearing at the woman's clothes and shuddered. She had been that feral, awful thing, and she had no more power to stop it than she had over the weather.

She didn't know how long she sat there sobbing, only that Raiden interrupted her with a soft knock at the door. "Are you alright?"

 _A soldier doesn't cry. A soldier gets the job done_. Cassie shoved it all down the way she had so many times before. "I'm fine. Just got distracted." She stood up and wiped her face with her sleeve.

As she exited the bathroom, she was able to appreciate Raiden's sense of decorating. The interior had all the charm of a tea house and the space and comfort of a home. The décor married Asian influences and Western style into a unique combination. Cassie was no stranger to extravagant homes, but she always felt awed and reverent when she set foot in one. The living room featured cherrywood furniture and soft, golden textured walls. Paintings of koi fish and mountainscapes hung on the walls.

"You live here?" she marveled. "No wonder you don't hang around with us mortals."

"It is more of a meditation chamber than a home," Raiden said. "Though I do occasionally rest here."

"How does that work, with you being a god and all?" There were no couches (why bother when there was no TV?), so Cassie sat on one of the many floor cushions. _It's like stepping into a hippie house,_ Cassie thought, exhaling a quiet laugh. She sat with her legs tucked beneath her, aware of being wrapped in only a towel and a robe.

"A question for another time." Raiden sat beside her, which made Cassie recall something he'd said earlier: _Think of it as a detoxification center_. And that was certainly how she felt, with them sitting on the floor as if part of a craft circle. _Maybe Fujin will show up and teach us how to make popsicle-stick houses._ She snickered, though she knew why her brain was throwing all sorts of ridiculous thoughts at the wall and hoping one would stick: avoidance.

Raiden went on, oblivious to Cassie's inner thoughts: "You have been through quite an ordeal. Are you doing alright?"

Cassie heard herself laugh a shaky sound. "Are you seriously trying to play therapist?"

"In my time as protector of Earthrealm, I have seen the effects of poisons like the one we encountered today. It seems to be a way to encourage its species to mate, as most of them are near extinct due to Outworld's Kahns exterminating them. The fact that their venom affects those outside their species is a curiosity."

Yes, it seemed Raiden was gearing up for an attempt at talk therapy, despite being an immortal non-human with no concept of how human brains worked. As ludicrous as it was, Cassie wanted to spill everything, if only because Raiden would not give a shit. He wasn't her father, her mother, her friend, or a colleague. He was just a thunder god who occasionally popped into Special Forces' base when a threat to Earthrealm reared its head. He was, perhaps, the only person who would listen and not hold any of it against her.

But of all the things she inherited from her mother, pride was one of them, and she wasn't rolling over without a fight. "I'm fine. I kicked Shinnok's ass. I think I can handle a little bug jizz."

"A demanding battle is quite different than losing control of your mind."

Cassie squirmed, recalling the sensation of little bugs crawling under her skin. "How would you know? Can someone like you even _be_ possessed?"

"I'm sure it is possible," Raiden said, maddeningly vague. "If something strong enough took hold of me, it could make me do whatever it wanted. Shang Tsung and Quan Chi were masters of possession."

"And they're dead," said Cassie, if only to reassure herself.

Raiden watched her for a moment. "This facade of strength will poison your soul. You must allow yourself to grieve."

Only her father had ever granted her permission to cry. It had been somewhat of a dark secret between them, something she had grown ashamed of but nonetheless enjoyed. When she had suffered through a teenage breakup, a flunked test, or a friend's betrayal, Johnny had always accepted her emotions with open arms, allowing her to weep in his embrace and never shaming her for it.

With Raiden's tender acknowledgment of her trauma, the dam inside Cassie began to break. "It was inside my head! Do you have any idea what that's like? Having something reach in there and take control?" A harsh, wrenching sob bubbled out, and Cassie covered her mouth on instinct, as if to hold it back. "It turned me into a monster! And all those other people who didn't have a god to keep them at bay…" She didn't want to imagine what the other infected must be going through; she hadn't even hurt anyone, and the guilt felt like a melon-sized tumor in her gut.

"You cannot blame yourself for acts performed while under the control of another."

"That sounds like something you'd tell yourself to help you sleep at night."

"I do not sleep," Raiden said, missing the point. "But that does not change what is true."

Cassie shook her head. "I was stupid. I shouldn't have stayed in the path of that thing. Maybe I couldn't control what happened after I was poisoned, but up to that point? All on me."

Raiden sighed. "Your mother seems to have done a great deal of damage to your self-esteem."

"Didn't know you were the god of armchair psychology, too. And who said it was Mom?"

"Johnny Cage does not strike me as a strict disciplinarian."

Cassie supposed he was right about that. "Look, it could have been worse, right?" she said, sniffling. "What am I even complaining about? A lot of kids don't even have a mom—or a dad. I was lucky."

Raiden's expression told her he didn't really believe that. He rose from his spot on the floor. "I must deliver the antidote to your teammates so they can disperse it among the infected. Will you await my return?"

"Pretty sure I've got no way to leave, so… yeah."

Raiden grabbed a small bottle of what Cassie presumed was the special leaves he'd mentioned earlier, then he disappeared. Cassie didn't like being alone with her thoughts on the best of days, and today had certainly not been up there with the best. Her mind latched onto what Sonya might say upon Cassie's return; immediately, she felt like a gangly twelve-year-old again, sulking in the principal's office after hitting some awful boy who put his hands on her budding breasts. Johnny had been proud of Cassie for standing up for herself, but General Sonya Blade had found the entire incident troubling. _I don't want you thinking it's okay to solve your problems with violence,_ Sonya had scolded her that evening. Cassie's protests that, as an arm of the military, solving problems with violence was Sonya's job had earned her a slap across the mouth—albeit proving Cassie's point, though she'd known Sonya would never see it that way.

Tears sprung to Cassie's eyes, and it occurred to her she would rather stay here in Raiden's temple than return to base. The guilt and shame were too much, and if it made her look like a poor soldier, then maybe she was. Half of her only enlisted to earn her mother's respect anyway.

Raiden returned about fifteen minutes later. "I informed your team of your whereabouts. Would you like to stay the night? I have a guest room, though it hasn't seen many guests since…" He shook his head, as if shaking away the rest of that sentence.

"You don't mind?"

"I offered, didn't I?" There was a quirk of a smile at the corner of his mouth, and Cassie realized Raiden _did_ have a sense of humor, albeit buried beneath layers upon layers of solemnity.

He showed her to the guest bedroom, where Cassie found actual clothes hanging in the closet, although they were thin and clearly belonged to someone else. She deemed them good enough for the night, however, changing while Raiden gave her a few minutes to herself. She wore a pair of sweatpants that almost fit and a white t-shirt two sizes too big. When she found Raiden, he stood in the kitchen, boiling a pot of water on the stovetop.

"More tea?" Cassie asked.

"I thought you might be hungry."

She was, but she didn't want to take advantage of Raiden's hospitality. "You don't have to do anything special for me. I'm already staying over."

"Then you might as well go all the way and stay for dinner," he joked, and a quick, pleasant shiver went up her back. She liked this jokey, down-to-earth Raiden; more importantly, she liked that he cared enough to make her feel comfortable.

Cassie agreed and tried to help him, but Raiden shooed her away from the stove, spouting some crazy talk about her being a guest. She gave up and sat at the kitchen island. "So if you don't sleep—or eat, since you're only cooking for one—how come you have all this stuff?"

"Liu Kang and Kung Lao used to visit," Raiden explained, chopping vegetables at a disconcerting speed.

"Before they were revenants?"

Raiden answered with a solemn _yes_. "I understand the guilt and shame you feel over what happened today. The fate that befell Liu Kang and Kung Lao… I could atone for the rest of eternity and it would still not be enough."

"What happened, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Long before you were born, the emperor of Outworld threatened to merge his realm with Earthrealm. I plead my case to the Elder Gods that Earthrealm should at least have a fighting chance, and they created a martial arts tournament. Your parents participated in that tournament, though they were strangers to each other at the time. I had chosen Liu Kang as Earthrealm's champion, therefore I was responsible for him." Raiden sighed as he stirred the contents of the pot. "I wish I could blame what happened on my visions, but it was I alone who acted on them."

Cassie raised an eyebrow. "Visions?"

"I received telekinetic messages from my future self," Raiden said, unaware of how ridiculous that sounded aloud. "One of the messages was 'he must win,' spoken before my future self was killed in combat by Shao Kahn, Outworld's emperor. Naturally, I took this portent to mean Liu Kang must win."

"Wait, if Shao Kahn killed future you, how did past you even exist to get the message? Wouldn't that be like going back in time and killing your parents?"

"Perhaps it was a message from myself in an alternate timeline," Raiden conceded. "I do not profess to know how it works, only that it does. Regardless, I did everything I could to prevent the armageddon that would arise if Shao Kahn won the tournament, but every attempt blew up in my face. I tried to talk Scorpion out of killing Sub-Zero, knowing a more dangerous threat would emerge, but despite my bargain with him, he did it anyway. A discussion with Kitana led to her rebelling against Shao Kahn and being captured, which prompted Liu Kang to rescue her. In his place, I sent Kung Lao to defeat the sorcerors Shang Tsung and Quan Chi. Kung Lao was killed by Shao Kahn after his victory."

Cassie looked at him; Raiden's eyes no longer looked so bright. "That wasn't your fault—"

"Let me continue, please." Raiden went on. "After witnessing his comrade's death, Liu Kang went on to defeat Shao Kahn, killing him and winning the tournament. But Shang Tsung and Quan Chi were able to use their magic to heal him. That was when Outworld decided to invade Earthrealm. Myself and Liu Kang appealed to the Elder Gods, but they claimed Shao Kahn's invasion of Earthrealm was not a violation of their rules. So we accomplished nothing, and upon our return we found six of our allies—including Jackson Briggs—dead, and the rest seriously injured in a battle with Shao Kahn's resurrected empress, Sindel. Nightwolf sacrificed himself to kill her, but Kitana succumbed to her injuries and perished in Liu Kang's arms.

"This turned Liu Kang against me, as he had seen nothing but disaster and death in my attempts to fulfill my future self's prophecy. I ventured alone to the Netherrealm, where I tried to bargain with Quan Chi. I offered him the souls of all my fallen comrades—even my own—in exchange for the Netherrealm's cooperation. But he already had those souls as part of a deal with Shao Kahn." Raiden prepared the soup and set the steaming bowl in front of Cassie. He gazed at her with tired eyes, and the creases on his face were more pronounced than before. "Do you know what I realized at that moment?"

"That future you should have been way less vague?"

"Well, yes. 'He must win' had referred to Shao Kahn all along. Allowing Shao Kahn to defeat us and merge the realms would force the Elder Gods to intervene. But when I tried to explain this to Liu Kang, he assumed I'd lost my mind. He wanted to fight Shao Kahn, and I had to stop him, lest I create more tragedies. But time does not want to be changed, Cassandra. Not without tremendous resistance. In our battle, a combination of my electricity and Liu Kang's fire resulted in his demise. 'You have killed us all.' Those were his last words to me. I think about that a lot."

Cassie stared at the heat rising off the soup. Probably too hot to eat right now. "How did Jacqui's dad come back, then?"

"With your mother's help, I was able to reverse one of Quan Chi's spells and restore Jax, Scorpion, and Kuai Liang to their human selves. But now that Quan Chi is dead, it seems Kitana, Kung Lao, Liu Kang, and the others will remain revenants."

"I don't think you can blame yourself for that. Scorpion killed Quan Chi, not you."

"If it weren't for my interference, there would be no revenants to begin with."

"They chose to fight, and their opponents chose to kill them. None of that's on you."

A knowing smile appeared on Raiden's mouth. "You defend me so vehemently, and yet you shovel so much blame onto yourself."

In the absence of a good comeback, Cassie gave him the finger. "Got any booze around here? I probably won't get to sleep without some."

Raiden found a bottle of Japanese wine and set it beside the soup bowl. He disappeared, presumably to give her space, and Cassie finished the soup and half the bottle before her eyelids grew heavy. She rinsed her dishes in the sink, then fell into bed.

* * *

Under a blood-red sky, the giant Kytinn creature skittered after Cassie. She ran, firing shots with every glance behind her. The creature seemed to deflect each bullet as though made of metal. Cassie tried her radios and communicators, begging for backup, but no response came. She weaved between buildings, and the monster smashed through them. Cassie knew she couldn't outrun it, but there were no other options. One of the Thing's awful, spider-like legs stuck itself through her thigh as though skewering a steak kebab. There was a hot gush of fluid—blood, piss, or both, Cassie didn't know. Pain flared, and Cassie screamed as she was dragged toward the creature's slobbering pincers. She twisted, aiming her pistol at its nightmare mouth, and unloaded. The creature squalled, began to morph, and she saw the face of her mother where the alien's face had been. Cassie felt her sanity ripping free of its moorings.

"Stop crying!" The Sonya-creature scolded. "If you want to be a good soldier, you need to control your emotions."

"Fuck you!" Cassie found herself squeezing the trigger over and over. The Sonya-monster's face exploded with bullet holes. "I'm not just a soldier! I'm your _daughter_! Like hell I'm going to end up as emotionally constipated as you!"

Cassie ran out of bullets, and the Sonya-spider glared back at her, unfazed by the shots. "Watch your mouth, Sergeant. You won't get far if you don't learn your place."

Cassie let out a grunt and flung the empty pistol right between monster-Sonya's eyes. She thought she heard a crunch, but maybe that was the sound of her own skewered leg breaking as the Thing brought her closer. The Sonya-demon opened its mouth wide, and Cassie could see things squirming in there. She fought as hard as she could until another sharp ovipositor stabbed through her—her chest this time—and she fell into the dark abyss of the creature's open maw.

Cassie shrieked, and the sound of it must have awakened her, because she came to in Raiden's guest bedroom, shivering violently in her own sweat. Blue fingers of lightning appeared in the dark, then Raiden was there. "Is everything all right?" he asked her.

Cassie caught her breath, aware of her own pounding heartbeat. She wondered if it filled the room as much as it did her own ears. "I think I'm losing my mind." She told Raiden about the dream, enjoying his presence there. He may have been a bit aloof, but he listened. That was more than Cassie could say for her mother. "How fucked up am I for dreaming about killing my mom?"

"You are under a tremendous amount of pressure, a great deal of it from her."

"You'd think defeating Shinnok would have upped my confidence game. But somehow I'm worse. What the fuck?"

"Shinnok's defeat simply raised the stakes."

"Honestly? I think it was just a fluke. How does a regular ol' human defeat an Elder God?"

"A fallen Elder God," Raiden corrected. Mr. Pedantic. "Regardless, you are not valued only for your success. Nor does a mistake erase your victories."

"You should think about taking your own advice sometime," Cassie said, teasing him.

Raiden offered a half-amused smile. "We shall see about that. Do you need assistance falling back asleep?"

"You got some magic fairy dust or something? Great. Sweep me away, Sandman." She would not be able to turn off her tumultuous thoughts, that much was certain.

Raiden sat beside her in the bed and settled the fingers of his left hand on the pulse in her wrist. "It is more of a calming spell. Like my healing magic, it requires some time to take effect."

"Good thing time's on our side tonight." Cassie allowed herself to slump against him. It felt nice, knowing he could take it, knowing she could lean on him in all the ways that counted. His touch was oddly warm and calming on her wrist. She could feel her heartbeat slowing, lulling her into peace. Soon her eyelids slipped shut, and for the rest of the night the world was kind.

**Author's Note:**

> I had originally wanted to continue this into a longer fic exploring their relationship post-MKX, but inspiration fizzled out. I would be more than happy to write more featuring this ship if anyone's interested, though~


End file.
